Who is eligible to receive these treatments?

Treatment for COVID-19 is available for individuals who are considered at highest risk of becoming severely ill. This will include some people, but not everyone who was advised to shield during the pandemic. Some people who were previously shielding now have a much lower risk of severe disease following COVID-19 vaccination.

High-risk individuals will usually be contacted within 24 hours of a positive PCR test or Lateral Flow Test (LFT.) If the results are reported at a weekend or over a bank holiday, individuals will be contacted on the next working day (usually a Monday morning).

The highest risk group includes people who have:

• All people aged 70 and over who live in a care home
• Down’s syndrome
• certain types of cancer
• had certain types of chemotherapy in the last 12 months
• had radiotherapy in the last 12 months
• had a haematological stem cell transplant (HSCT)
• sickle cell disease
• certain non-cancer related blood diseases
• chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4 or 5 or kidney transplant
• a severe liver condition (such as cirrhosis or liver transplant)
• had an organ transplant
• certain autoimmune or inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease)
• conditions that affect breathing (including those with asthma who have taken medicines that makes them more likely to get infections, or COPD)
• a condition or treatment that makes you more likely to get infections
• HIV or AIDS
• certain conditions affecting the brain or nerves (including motor neurone disease, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease or Huntington’s disease)

Information about how you can be assessed for treatment can be found below.